Monday, April 3, 2017

When
Adryel follows Lucifer in his rebellion, she loses Ramael, the one
she loves, and everything else she holds dear. How can he still love
her when, as the Mistress of Hell, she has done more to thwart
Adonai’s plan for humanity than all the other fallen angels
combined?

Excerpt

“The
council is in session,” Uriel repeated as Adryel took her seat.
“Each of you will find a book on the table in front of you. As its
title indicates, it contains a plan for creation of…well, we’ll
see what is to be created. In any case, Adonai wishes to implement
the plan, and he solicits your advice and counsel before he
proceeds.”

“The
plan is not long, as you can see,” Uriel said. “We’ll read it
now.”

***

Lucifer
flipped toward the back of the book. “On the twenty-fourth page we
find an extended discussion of one of these creatures, the one called
human.” A look of distaste blanketed his features and his eyes
narrowed. “I find the plan for this creature to be most
disturbing.”

Michael
sat up and leaned forward, resting his forearm on the table. “Why
so? What disturbs you?”

Lucifer’s
finger ran down the page, stopping halfway. “The humans will have
no predisposition to do what is good.

“In
the fifth paragraph…The human creatures will be predisposed to do
neither good nor evil,” he read, then gazed around the table.

“Our
nature is to do good, but the humans will be different. Their nature
will be…variable.” As he shrugged, indicating he could be no more
specific, his eyes lit up, as if an idea had just occurred to him. An
evil smile crossed his face. “Perhaps this will help.”

Lucifer
reached into the pocket of his robe and withdrew the wooden disk.
“See this disk? On one side, there is an X. On the other, we find
an O, a circle.”

He
flipped the disk into the air and it landed on the table, bouncing
twice, ending with the side bearing the X facing up.

“Surely,
Lucifer, you don’t mean…”

“I
mean this…Suppose I were one of these human creatures.” He
visibly shivered as he spoke. “Further suppose that I were to
encounter a beautiful female…such as our secretary,” he nodded
toward Adryel, “walking in the palace garden early in the evening.”

All
eyes turned to her. She could feel her face growing warm and she
dropped her eyes.

“I
do not mean to embarrass her, but suppose I encountered her as I
said…what might I do?” He paused, stroking his chin as if deep in
thought. “Now, it is my nature to do good, so I would wish her a
good evening. If I were human, though, with no such predisposition,
what would determine my behavior?”

He
tossed the disk again. This time, the large O was visible.

“I
can do good, or I can do evil. An X or an O. Adryel, what are the
odds I would do good? You know the answer.”

After
a long pause, Adryel turned to Lord Lucifer. “In the absence of any
other influence, the likelihood of good behavior is one of two. Half
of the time you would do good.”

“Circle,
I wish you a good evening. X, I ravish you.”

About
the Author

We
recently moved to our new home near Charleston, South Carolina. Three
of my four books are set in Charleston, and I’ve always enjoyed the
Carolina beaches. I now have the opportunity to walk on the beach
almost every day and to photography the ocean, the sea birds, and the
marshes that I love.

I
love photography, and I have photographed subjects as varied as
prehistoric ruins on the islands of Scotland, star trails, sea gulls,
and a Native American powwow. My wife and I have traveled widely in
the United States and the United Kingdom. During trips to Scotland,
we visited Crathes Castle, the ancestral home of the Burnett family
near Aberdeen, and Kismul Castle on Barra, the home of my McNeil
ancestors.

I
went to school for much longer than I want to admit, and I have
degrees in psychology and education. In an “earlier life” I was
director of research for our state’s education department.

4 comments:

I like this a lot. Very interesting angle. We see the angels and their interactions. I will be picking up a copy. Thank you for introducing me to this story and amazing author.Orelukjp0 at Gmail dot com